I’m studying the reef below me, trying my best to ignore what’s happening on the other side of the little waterfall lagoon with Luke, Zach, and Bart, but at the same time desperately trying to hear what they are all saying.
Bart is definitely coming on to Zach. And Luke is pissed.
Hell, I’m pissed. Zach is mine. He’s the only reason I’m here. I can deal with Luke. He could turn out to be a big, ol’ sexy bonus, even if he is kind of moody and distant.
But this Bart guy?
No. He was not part of my plan.
Suddenly Luke is below me in the water, his dark hair waving around his face, his finger pointing up.
I stop snorkeling and pull the mouthpiece out, then slide my mask up my face so I can see him better when he pops up in front of me. “What’s up?” I ask.
“We’re going to the party.” Luke nods his head in that direction. “Zach is already over there. With Bart.” He adds a little extra malice to the name Bart.
Luke’s eyes track over to the floating party platform where dozens of people are crowding. We both watch as Luke and Bart come to a stop in the shallows of the sandbar. Bart leaves his Seabob in the water and pushes Zach, making him stumble and laugh as they both wade their way towards the platform.
“Hmm,” I hum. Then I look at Luke. “Are we going to allow this?”
“We?”
“Hey, I wouldn’t be here if he didn’t want me here. And at least I’m on your side. Bart there, he’s just some random rich kid looking to get laid by the first shiny thing that catches his eye. Which would be Zach.”
Luke frowns at me. “You’re no different, Posie. Zach and I are partners. You’re his version of shiny. He’s with me.”
“He’s with Bart, Luke. And like I said, Zach wants me here. So looks like you need a little help in holding onto your man. I’m offering to be that help.”
Wow. I’m not really sure where that came from, but I like it. It’s gonna be a good quote for the article. One of those big ones in the middle of a wall of text. The kind with ginormous quotation marks framing it.
Anyway. Back to reality.
“But,” I continue, “I can just as easily stay on the yacht until we’re ready to go and you can handle things all by yourself, if that’s what you prefer.”
He glances over at Zach again. And Zach is laughing and smiling, like he’s completely unaware of the drama going on over here.
“I like him, Luke.”
Luke’s attention snaps back to me. “So? You’re no one, Posie. Just another girl we picked up in a club. Do you have any idea how many times we’ve done that? Dozens.”
“But I’m still here.”
“For today. Trust me, after we drop you off at home tonight, he’ll forget all about you and just start hunting down another girl.”
“To spice things up? Is he bored with you, Luke? Is this how you keep him?”
I’m pissing this guy off. It’s probably a bad idea. I’m hours away from the mainland, he’s like six-foot-three, almost twice my weight, and he’s my ride home. So it’s a very bad idea to pick this fight with him.
But he needs an ally. And I’m his only option. If I’m gonna position myself as a permanent fixture in Zach Boston’s life I need to jump the hurdle called Luke first.
And this stupid Bart guy is the perfect way to unite us so I can make that leap.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. Zach and I have a lot more between us than sex. Our families are connected. Our business is connected. There are bigger things on our minds than who we’re sleeping with. This is just Zach being Zach. It’s just a game. But trust me, when it comes time to go home, he leaves with me, Posie.” He pauses. Then points his finger at me. “And I’m on to you.”
I scoff. “Whatever.”
“I see you, Posie. I have seen plenty of girls like you over the past year. You all think Zach is a prize to win. And don’t bother playing dumb. You know his last name is Boston. That’s the only reason you’re here, isn’t it?”
For a moment I panic, thinking Luke knows who I really am. He knows about the contract I have with Buzz Hollywood. He’s figured it out.
But then he says, “You’re looking for status. Money. You want to party with him, and get your picture taken, and use him to get something better. Climb some ladder you don’t have access to. Discard your boring, pathetic life and reinvent yourself a new one.”
“Wow,” I say. “You get mean when you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Stop it, OK? I’m not here to steal him from you. I just like him. And I like you too. Enough to share. And isn’t that what he and you do? Hm? Share?”
Luke doesn’t react. Like at all. So I keep going.
“If we team up, then Bart doesn’t have a chance. Zach likes you, Zach likes me. He has a life with you—as you pointed out—and I’m the new flavor of the week. One he’s barely had a chance to taste. He wants us. We don’t need to fight over this. Yet.”
I pause to see if he’ll say anything about that. But he holds his words in, so I finish.
“We need to get him out of here. Because Bart over there?” I nod my head towards the crowd. “He lives in Zach’s world. Not ours. He’s one of the ruling class. You don’t need to talk to him to figure that out. He’s dripping with privilege. Just like Zach. They are of the same kind. And maybe Zach does love you, but this is his world, Luke. He’s not Zach, one half of your yacht charter service. He’s a Boston. He belongs here in this exclusive, secret pop-up party for the rich and bored—and we don’t.”
Luke lets out a long breath. Like he was holding it in while I talked. He’s gently waving his arms in the water. And I can feel the slight current his flippers make as we tread water in the middle of this beautiful waterfall cove.
He knows I’m right. Luke has a precarious hold on Zach Boston for now. But for how much longer?
They don’t have much time left by the looks of it. I’m no expert in relationships but I’ve been in enough of them to see the signs of one winding down. The bond between Luke and Zach is based on a lot of things—but it’s not love.
Mutual attraction, sure.
Family ties and all that business junk. Fine.
But that’s not eternal partner type stuff.
So all I have to do is hang around long enough to watch it break and then be there when Zach needs somewhere to turn.
Wow. I’m sorta ruthless when I’m focused.
Who knew?
